Halloween is my favorite holiday. The dress up, the fantasy, the fun, the pretend. What’s not to love? I don’t decorate the house, I don’t bake everything pumpkin, but I do love to throw all of my creativity and inspiration into the kids’ costumes.

But Julia wasn’t so sure what to be this year for Halloween. I could be this, she thought. Or that, maybe. The conversations over dinner and from the back seat seemed to stretch on for months. I know my kid, and I know she had her heart set on something wonderfully hand-made and grand like her brother’s jellyfish costume.

So I stepped in. One flood day last week, when school was canceled, I asked her to help me start crafting.

At our house, we like the unique kind of Halloween costume, the kind of costume that makes other trick-or-treaters drop their jaws, high-five us between houses, the kind of costume people remember. And I like costumes that are homemade, but easily homemade.

And that’s what makes this hot air balloon costume so so perfect.

And I know that this costume is on Pinterest, but trust me, there’s no basket cutting here, no ordering balloon nets or special trips to the party store. This is the super-easy version.

Here’s what you’ll need:

Helium Balloons. I used 15, but just a great big bunch is what’s most important

Paracord

Pipe Insulation

Brown Paper Bags

Ribbon, both thin and wide

Fabric

Duct Tape

Large Lamp Shade (that’s the genius part)

Check your closets and thrift stores for a large lamp shade. Make sure it’s big enough for your kiddo to wear around them with room to wiggle and run. It can be any color, really. If it doesn’t look basket like, then consider wrapping it with burlap or some other brown and textured material. Remove the metal hardware inside with strong scissors or metal cutters, and voila! Instant basket!

Cut triangles for bunting from the fabric, string it on the thin ribbon, and glue it around the basket. Julia and I share a love for the color yellow, but any and every color is best.

Make sandbags from the paper bags stuffed with newspaper, tie them with ribbon, and glue them on, too.

Wrap the wide end of the lamp shade with pipe insulation and cover it with coordinating duct tape. And the basket part is finished already!

Attach the wide ribbon inside the lamp shade with duck tape or hot glue. Measure to make sure it fits your kiddo at waist height. If your child is small, you might want to make the ribbons crisscross in the back to make them stay in place better.

Use the same method to attach four long lengths of paracord to the inside of the lamp shade. Make sure they’re long enough to reach above your child’s head. It might help to knot the ends of the cord to give you a surface on which to glue or tape to the shade.

Attach your big balloon bundle to the top end of the paracords.

Julia raided the dress up box, her brother’s closet, and my closet for her Amelia Earhart clothes, because every good pilot should be dressed the part, and she is ready for trick-or-treat.

Take a Peek at These Gems:

Anna Hartman a flip flop-loving, hot yoga-doing, local eating, super work-at-home mom. She loves love all things beach, laughing until her sides hurt, and thunder storms. She lives in Charleston, South Carolina, with her husband, Jason, and two kids, Julia and Maxwell. In her free time, you can find Anna with camera in hand photographing any and everything she can, especially historic Charleston, and when she’s not free, she’s playing dress up or trains with her kids, freelance designing and writing, or learning to love running.